Issues with Standardized Testing in US Education System

Well, this is because of the decisions that our country has made on implementing reform programs for schools. These reform programs consist of using standardized testing as a way of measuring a child's intelligence on mainly two subjects, English Language Arts and Math. This test is unfair to students who are not proficient in those subjects and receive a low test score. This harms the students psychologically by telling them that they have scored "average" or "below average", when in reality they are proficient in subjects or activities outside of those that are being tested.

So now lets not break "traditions" lets be brave and fight for what deserves to be fought for and bring change to our students, so they too can succeed and prosper in this country.

The problem with standardized testing is that it only measures a very small fraction of what makes education meaningful. Valerie Strauss emphasizes the importance of this matter by exemplifying Gerald Bracey's conclusion in her article.

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Bracey having his doctoral degree in "developmental psychology from Stanford University" (Mathews) stresses that "standardized test do not provide a direct and complete measure of educational achievement and can only measure a portion of the goals in education, which are necessarily broader and more inclusive than the tests could possibly be" he then provides a list of big ideas that standardized tests fail to measure such as " 'creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, civic-mindedness, courage, compassion, resourcefulness, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, honesty, and integrity' "(Strauss).

He continues on and says: although we are not able to acquire all this learning inside the classroom, but shouldn't " 'shouldn't schools pursue goals such as these for their students, along with the usual academic goals?' "(Strauss). Without a doubt, a "yes" should be the answer to this question. Children with many different talents exist, and they all show their abilities in different ways. When standardized tests are used, these abilities are diminished from some of our very intelligent students.

This kind of testing can be quite detrimental to a student's life, as it will cause them great pain knowing that they did not do well on a subject. America should produce children who should learn to be wise and yet smart and to be powerful but yet humble. Instead of worrying about teaching to the test and following a so called "curriculum" that each school must follow, America should be educating these young children in areas that will help them prosper both socially and academically in the future. Albert Einstein said, "Everybody is a genius.

But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid". This quote seizes the true meaning of what standardized tests do to children. Standardized test bring children's self- confidence down greatly, by telling them that their scores are bad, and that they should improve themselves. This can be seen in the classroom of a 22-year veteran teacher who saw something very different in one of her students abilities. Andy and Corey were two students of Mella Baxter both not good test takers and had about a 60 percent in the class.

"Neither lacked intelligence, but both lacked motivation to complete traditional classroom assignments. For their final evaluation, Andy asked if he and Corey could bring their guitars to class and perform an original song they wrote. I told him I would allow it as long as their performance was connected to the content and showed that they mastered all of the core information required on the final”(Baxter). So the two boys came in and performed, and after their performance they went through each of the guidelines that were required for their class, and answered all the questions “effectively and in a way that showed that he had truly internalized the information that he had been taught. He showed that he would be able to use what he learned in meaningful ways in his chosen profession" (Baxter).

Is it not a shame to see such smart and talented students being deprived of higher-level education because their test score are not competent enough? Just because they are not good test takers, and are not skilled in subjects such as math and literature it does not make them any less intelligent.

As mentioned before each person has a different ability, and they express those abilities it in different ways. One can become a great artist while the other can find the cure to cancer, they both contribute to society in different ways, and they both are very successful. Standardized testing all began in the mid 1800's with Horace Mann who "introduced his vision for reforming American education through common schools"(Gallagher 84). Mann hoped that the outcome of the test result would provide him with information regarding the achievements and quality of teaching and learning in urban schools (Gallagher 85).

"Mann's model was so successful that competitive written exams were adopted by school systems in nearly all U.S. cities, and in 1865, the New York Regents Exams were developed on the basis of Mann's assessment concepts" (Gallagher 85). It is understood that this type of examination worked for people in that era, it does not under any circumstances mean it works for each era. Just like technology, man is improving each day, his outlook and perspective of thinking is different than those who lived in the previous eras.

So why is America still stuck in the past? Why do they keep implementing these kinds of curriculums that do not advance? And why are they degrading the future of children by making these out-of-control policies that are good for no one? Now, America should again be that brave country that fought for freedom, but this time it should be brave for the future of its children. Fight for their rights in receiving education that will maximize the scope of their future and not limit them to a single test that has almost no great outcome. Lets fight to become the true number one country, with education being our top prized position.